Regulation 2007/1370 - Public passenger transport services by rail and by road and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 1191/69 and 1107/70 - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 315/1

Article 16 of the Treaty confirms the place occupied by services of general economic interest in the shared values of the Union.

Article 86(2) of the Treaty lays down that undertakings entrusted with the operation of services of general economic interest are subject to the rules contained in the Treaty, in particular to the rules on competition, in so far as the application of such rules does not obstruct the performance, in law or in fact, of the particular tasks assigned to them.

Article 73 of the Treaty constitutes a lex specialis in relation to Article 86(2). It establishes rules applicable to the compensation of public service obligations in inland transport.

The main objectives of the Commission’s White Paper of 12 September 2001‘European transport policy for 2010: time to decide’ are to guarantee safe, efficient and high-quality passenger transport services through regulated competition, guaranteeing also transparency and performance of public passenger transport services, having regard to social, environmental and regional development factors, or to offer specific tariff conditions to certain categories of traveller, such as pensioners, and to eliminate the disparities between transport undertakings from different Member States which may give rise to substantial distortions of competition.

At the present time, many inland passenger transport services which are required in the general economic interest cannot be operated on a commercial basis. The competent authorities of the Member States must be able to act to ensure that such services are provided. The mechanisms that they can use to ensure that public passenger transport services are provided include the following: the award of exclusive rights to public service operators, the grant of financial compensation to public service operators and the definition of general rules for the operation of public transport which are applicable to all operators. If Member States, in accordance with this Regulation, choose to exclude certain general rules from its scope, the general regime for State aid should apply.

Many Member States have enacted legislation providing for the award of exclusive rights and public service contracts in at least part of their public transport market, on the basis of transparent and fair competitive award procedures. As a result, trade between Member States has developed significantly and several public service operators are now providing public passenger transport services in more than one Member State. However, developments in national legislation have led to disparities in the procedures applied and have created legal uncertainty as to the rights of public service operators and the duties of the competent authorities. Regulation (EEC) No 1191/69 of the Council of 26 June 1969 on action by Member States concerning the obligations inherent in the concept of a public service in transport by rail, road and inland waterway (4), does not deal with the way public service contracts are to be awarded in the Community,...